Piskies, Knockers and Tommyknockers – Cornwall’s Misunderstood Folklore

The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation addresses everything from piskies – south west Britain’s fairies – to mermaids, harvest festivals, a corpse visiting his betrothed, and the giants long noted for making the Cornish peninsula their home. And amid all this are the spirits of the mines – knockers together with the tommyknockers, their New World descendants.

The Magic of Seeds – And the Wonders of Growth

Since the beginnings of human civilization, seeds have been revered for their gift of life. How we treat them in our gardens, the plants they produce, and the importance of the weather, reveal many fascinating practices, myths and superstitions.

The Devil in the Room: Researching the History of Witchcraft in Ireland

The narrative of witchcraft in Ireland is a subject often left out of major surveys of the wider history of witchcraft. Dr. Andrew Sneddon’s research explores the presence and complexities of witchcraft beliefs and traditions in an Irish context.

The Victorian Language of Flowers: Hiding Secret Messages in Plain Sight

If a bouquet of flowers arrives at our door, we’re more interested in who sent them. The Victorians were more concerned with what it meant.The Victorian language of flowers, also known as floriography, was a way to send messages using specific plants and flowers. Combining different flowers allowed them to send more complex or sophisticated messages.Let’s look at how this language developed and how to use it.

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